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Choice Is King at this Year’s NHL Draft

The NHL Draft is tonight and there's no telling what is going to happen. That's the best part.
Photo: Terry Wilson/USAToday Sport

Conceptually, drafts in sports always feel a little exploitative. Throngs of media surround a kid, and truly kids in the NHL's case, questioning his personality, body type and a plethora of other adjectives. All this, to decide where someone will carry out the next decade of their career. But that's the life they signed up for and it comes with the territory.

The first round is where most of the top talent is found. This season, 36 of the top 49 point getters in the league-ties made it easier to cut that off at 49—were drafted in the first round with most of the others being taken in the second round. There are of course plenty of exceptions to the rule in guys like Chris Kunitz and Martin St. Louis, both of whom were not drafted by an NHL team.

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There are of course, plenty of examples of first round draft picks turning into absolutely nothing, but that's the most exciting aspect of sports, total uncertainty.

There's no consensus top talent this year. Scouts have spent the season watching top Canadian prospects Aaron Ekblad, Samuel Bennett, and Sam Reinhart with a close eye. They have debated their physical tools, tried to venture guesses about character and psychoanalyzed plenty of 17-year-old athletes, in the hopes of finding the next generational talent, or hell, even All-Star caliber player. Even more arduous, is the task of scouting European players. It costs a team more money to send someone across the vast plains of Europe, to Sweden, Finland, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and countless other places. Canada's prospects and their scouting reports are more accessible.

The Florida Panthers, a team based in Sunrise, Florida, a real place that exists and has a hockey team, have the first overall pick. They have two pretty simple choices, trade it for a more immediate impact or draft a player they hope has a better career than Alexandre Daigle, an infamous bust who went first overall in 1993. Panthers general manager Dale Tallon has made reference to checking the market-as every GM does every single season-to see what the pick may net him.

"Some [teams] made legitimate offers, some have just been kicking tires," he told Fox Sports in Florida. "I'm sure that's going to escalate as this week progresses."

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"We've had discussions in the last couple weeks about possibly doing [a package deal], but no takers," he added. "We're going to be patient. We're not going to panic."

If not, he will have his selection of top picks.

Aaron Ekblad is a terrifying specimen of a man. He looks like he could beat up my entire family all at once without breaking much of a sweat. He's only the second player to ever be granted exceptional status-allowed to play at an earlier age than others-in the Ontario Hockey League, where he prepared himself for a professional career. The other player that was bestowed the honor of entering the OHL a year earlier was former first overall pick John Tavares, the top player on the New York Islanders and arguably one of the best players in the league.

Photo of Aaron Ekblad via NHL on Twitter

Ekblad has all those physical tools teams like to talk about but there are questions surrounding him. Does he have a mind for the game and on-ice vision to be a defenseman that drives play? Or will he turn into another highly drafted, one zone defenseman? It's a gamble some team will take very shortly after the draft begins.

Kingston's Ontario center Samuel Bennett is another prospect who may hear his name called first by Commissioner Bettman. He's listed as the top junior skater by International Scouting Services. However, He can't do a pull-up. Well, maybe he can do a pull-up, but he didn't do one at the scouting combine. That's a thing that upset a lot of people. I can't do a pull-up either, so I feel his pain. Maybe, some day, Bennett will be able to do a pull-up and, more importantly, score goals for the hockey team that decides to draft him.

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"I was definitely disappointed with myself," Bennett told Canadian Press. "I was wanting to do the best I can in every test. But, I guess, ultimately games aren't won or lost if you can do a pull-up in the gym."

Bennett is right. Although, he may have forgotten about Dwayne Johnson's award-winning performance in Tooth Fairy, where the man formerly known as The Rock played the best hockey player in the world. The erstwhile The Rock can definitely do pull-ups, push-ups, squats, and rip a man in half with his hands.

Leon Draisaitl, who has the coolest name of the any of the top prospects, is also floating around the top five. Some pundits even have him going in the top two. The German-born Draisaitl has been called everything from "two-way forward" to "power forward." He should go first overall, on name alone.

Sam Reinhart, or "The Other Sam," as I have just nicknamed him, has a name like a 'Game of Thrones' villain. But he's also got one hell of a pedigree: his father, Paul, played 648 games in the NHL, brother Griffin Reinhart—the more evil brother in this 'Game of Thrones' scenario—was drafted by the Islanders last year, and brother Max Reinhart—the brother with good intentions whose acts go horribly awry—was drafted by the Calgary Flames.

One of the most fun aspects of the draft is all of the trading and player movement that goes along with it. Putting all the league's general managers in one room and setting a timer makes for some captivating fun. There are plenty of big-name players being floated on Twitter by the league most prominent insiders, so there are sure to be a lot of stressed beat writers running around looking at the iPhone on Friday night at the Wells Fargo Center. One thing's for certain, plenty of new fans will either have a new hero or a new scapegoat.